Mike Parker: Beware latest Medicare scam – and hang up

Telemarketing crooks have developed a new way to attempt to scam people on Medicare. I was unaware of this scam until I answered a call that my caller ID identified as “N Carolina Call.” The woman on the line said she was from Medicare and was calling to see if I had received my new secure Medicare card. According to the caller, the new card was green – and was microchip-enabled to prevent scams. Of course, she said she needed to verify some of my information.

Anytime I receive a call from Medicare, Social Security, the Internal Revenue Service, or any federal agency, my suspicion level goes from zero to 100 in a single bound. Government agencies most often communicate through letters – not through phone calls and emails.

I asked the woman if she worked for Medicare, and she assured me she did. I told her I thought she was a scammer and hung up. Then I went to check on the latest Medicare scams. Sure enough, AARP had an article about the exact scam I had just encountered.

In this latest version of “give me your information,” the scammer asks whether the target has received a new chip-enabled card that affords greater security. These chip cards will do a better job of protecting the identity of the Medicare beneficiary, the scammer says. On the surface, the claim sounds reasonable. Most of us who have credit and debit cards carry chip-enabled cards. Those cards do provide better security to the cardholder.

The caller is simply trying to get the person on Medicare to divulge personal information so the scammer can make false Medicare claims using that person’s number. Scammers had fewer problems several years ago when a person’s Social Security number was also that person’s Medicare number. Medicare changed to a different numeration system to avoid false claims.

Identity theft is a serious and costly crime. This type of scam may result in a person being bilked for money, but in the case of Medicare, most of the bilking takes aim at the federal government.

Medicare.gov offers several suggestions. First, do not share your Medicare number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email, or approaches you in person unless you have given that person permission in advance.

Second, Medicare, or someone representing Medicare, will only call and ask for personal information in these situations: 1) A Medicare health or drug plan can call you if you are already a member. The agent who helped you join can also call you. 2) A customer service representative from 1-800-MEDICARE can call you if you have called and left a message or if a representative said someone would call you back.

Third, only give personal information like your Medicare Number to doctors, insurers acting on your behalf, or trusted people in the community who work with Medicare, such as your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).

Fourth, if someone calls and asks for your Medicare number or other personal information, hang up. Then call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). For TTY, call 1-877-486-2048.

In researching Medicare scams, I discovered the “chip card” scam also targets Social Security numbers or supplemental insurance benefits information. The lie is the same: chip-enabled cards are being issued, but the beneficiary’s file must be updated. The scam artist frequently asks the citizen to verify or provide personal banking information. The scammer then uses the data to commit theft.

An old saying is: “A word to the wise is sufficient.”

I beg you: Be wise.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.